[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 109 (Tuesday, September 14, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9164-S9167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    ANTI-JEWISH SENTIMENT IN EUROPE

  Mr. SANTORUM. Today, as I come forward--and Senator Brownback will be 
joining me in a few minutes--as we enter into Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish 
new year, a time of reflection for the Jewish people, I thought it 
would be appropriate to reflect upon the state of affairs with respect 
to Jewry around the world and the frightening rise in anti-Semitism we 
have seen in many parts of the world, and I argue, unfortunately, even 
in this country.
  Senator Brownback will talk about a different aspect than I, and 
there will be some speakers tomorrow morning during morning business 
who will cover various other aspects of this problem.
  An area I have been particularly concerned about is the rise of anti-
Semitism in Europe. As we know, the roots of anti-Semitism in various 
parts of Europe are very deep, and we have seen the horrific 
consequences of that within the last century. It is important, as a 
result, to keep a very close, watchful eye on any precursors to what 
could be another tragic, horrific situation occurring on that 
continent.
  There is a rabbi, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who said--and this 
quote, to me, is quite telling--``Let it not be said of us that we saw 
the tiny flame but did not put it out until it became a raging fire.'' 
I think that is one of our duties and responsibilities as the leader of 
the free world, in our diplomatic bodies around the world and through 
diplomatic channels country to country, to use our good offices in 
America to make sure we are watchful, and we do more than just watch 
idly, to call attention to situations which are of concern to us as 
freedom-loving people and as people who put first among our freedoms 
the freedom of conscience.
  The freedom of religion is the fundamental and first of our freedoms 
because all freedoms flow from that. If you do not have the freedom to 
believe what you want to believe, then freedom of speech is a 
meaningless freedom, freedom of assembly is a meaningless freedom. So 
this is the first of the freedoms, and it is one that we believe, as 
Americans, very strongly.
  We believe, as the President says, that liberty, that basic freedom 
is the right of all people given by God. Yet we see, in Europe in 
particular, a growing and rising tension in the world, in that 
continent.
  I submit for the Record recent incidents of anti-Semitism in Europe, 
just in this year, the year 2004. I will go through and pick one 
incident from each of the countries I will talk about. Unfortunately, 
on this list--which is about 5 pages long--almost half of the incidents 
occurred in France. I have had meetings with the French Ambassador on 
this issue and expressed concerns about religious freedom and expressed 
concerns, via correspondence and meetings, about anti-Semitism. Yet 
this is a growing problem in this region of the world. But it is not 
only in France.
  This first example is of a situation in France. This is a situation 
where we have the World War II memorial to Jewish soldiers in Lyon, 
where you have swastikas painted on the memorial.
  You have instance after instance--and I think there are, as I said, 
5\1/2\ pages of this document that I will be submitting for the 
Record--talking about anti-Semitic activity, whether it is graffiti or 
turning over tombstones, destroying graves, whether it is vandalism of 
synagogues, or whether it is assaults on Jewish children, particularly 
in school and coming from religious schools. We are seeing it more and 
more and more.
  We need to understand this is not a problem that will go away if we 
ignore it. This is a problem which we have to speak up on and bring 
attention to.
  In Belgium, four Jewish teenagers, all students from the same school 
in an Antwerp suburb, were attacked by a group of 15 men. One of the 
Jewish students was stabbed in the back and seriously injured. Again, 
an attack, in this case, by ``youth of Arab origin.''
  In the Czech Republic, some 80 tombstones were overturned in a Jewish 
cemetery in Hranice in the east of the Czech Republic.
  In Austria, a Holocaust memorial was desecrated, with the word 
``lie'' spray painted over a historical plaque. This memorial near 
Vienna is at the site of a former concentration camp.
  In Germany, in Dusseldorf, vandals sprayed swastikas and SS symbols 
on at least 40 gravestones at a Jewish cemetery.

[[Page S9165]]

  In Hungary, a Jewish cemetery in northern Hungary was vandalized. 
More than 90 gravestones were smashed only weeks after the cemetery had 
been renovated by the local town council to mark the 60th anniversary 
of the Holocaust.
  In Moldova, vandals threw Molotov cocktails at the synagogue in 
Tiraspol.
  In Poland, in Krakow, police discovered the desecration of a 19th 
century synagogue. Vandals had painted swastikas on a Star of David 
hanging from gallows on the Tempel Synagogue.
  In Romania, the wall of a Jewish cemetery in northwestern Romania was 
smeared with swastikas as well as anti-Semitic and fascist slogans.
  In Russia, there were several instances of vandalism and an explosion 
in Debent that shattered several windows in a synagogue in the southern 
region of Dagestan.
  In Ukraine, more than 50 gravestones were vandalized in a Jewish 
cemetery.
  In Great Britain, the British rabbi--I will put up another quote from 
him--said, ``Jews wait anxiously for the next news of a synagogue 
vandalized, a cemetery desecrated, a Jewish school set on fire, Jews 
attacked in the streets.''
  In London, only a couple months ago, there was an arson attack on a 
London area synagogue, destroying religious books, including some that 
had been smuggled out by Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis. A burning 
rag was thrown into the South Tottenham United Synagogue.
  In Birmingham, just last month, 60 Jewish gravestones were destroyed 
in a cemetery.
  We can go on and on and on.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the full text of this document 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

           Recent Incidents of Anti-Semitism in Europe (2004)


                                Austria

       June 1, 2004.--Villach.--A memorial honoring Holocaust 
     victims in southern Austria, consisting of 17 glass plates 
     engraved with the names of 108 local Holocaust victims, was 
     smashed. The memorial, which was created in 1999, was 
     previously damaged by vandals in March 2003.
       January 18, 2004.--Hinterbruehl--A Holocaust memorial was 
     desecrated, with the word ``lie'' spray painted over a 
     historical plaque. The memorial near Vienna is at the site of 
     a former concentration camp.


                                Belgium

       July 1, 2004.--Antwerp--In separate incidents, two Jewish 
     men were attacked in the Antwerp area. A Jewish cyclist in 
     Berchem had stones and bottles thrown at him by a group of 15 
     youths. He escaped injury. In the second attack, a young 
     Jewish man was found bleeding on the street. His attacker was 
     described as ``Eastern European origin.'' No arrests have 
     been made.
       June 24, 2004.--Antwerp--Four Jewish teen-agers, all 
     students from the same school in an Antwerp suburb, were 
     attacked by a group of 15 men described by authorities as 
     ``youth of Arab origin.'' One of the Jewish students, who was 
     stabbed in the back, was seriously injured with a punctured 
     lung. In response to the attack, ADL wrote to the Belgian 
     Ambassador urging an investigation.


                             Czech Republic

       August 10, 2004.--Hranice--Some 80 tombstones were 
     overturned at the Jewish cemetery in Hranice in the east of 
     the Czech Republic.


                                 France

       August 26, 2004.--Paris--The director of the main public 
     library, the Bibliotheque Publique d'Information, announced 
     that anti-Semitic inscriptions were found stamped into a 
     dozen books about the Dreyfus case and legal issues. The 
     vandals stamped the edge of the books with the 
     words ``Against the Jewish Mafia and Jewish Racism'' with 
     the addresses of a Holocaust denial and Islamic propaganda 
     Web sites.
       August 14, 2004.--Paris--Anti-Semitic graffiti, including a 
     sign saying ``death to Jews'' and a swastika, was found 
     scrawled on a wall on the grounds of Notre Dame Cathedral. 
     Police are investigating.
       August 9, 2004.--Lyon--Some 60 gravestones were vandalized 
     with swastikas in a Jewish cemetery in Lyon in southeastern 
     France. On August 15, a 24-year-old man turned himself in to 
     Paris police and admitted to desecrating the graves in Lyon. 
     He did not appear to have links to far-right groups and told 
     investigators that he was inspired by a television 
     documentary about American racist groups. A state prosecutor 
     said that the man was inspired by a hatred of Arabs.
       July 28, 2004.--Saverne--Thirty-two tombstones were 
     vandalized with swastikas, Stars of David and satanic ``666'' 
     symbols in a Jewish cemetery in the Alsatian town of Saverne, 
     north of Strasbourg. The vandalism was discovered by a family 
     member visiting the cemetery.
       June 11, 2004.--Rivesaltes--A Holocaust-era mural painted 
     by Jewish children in a transit camp who were being held 
     before being sent to Nazi death camps, was discovered 
     vandalized in southwestern France. A historian visiting the 
     site, where 4,500 Jews and Gypsies were held, found that the 
     mural had been chiseled off the wall. According to The 
     Independent, in 1942, a Swiss nurse at the camp asked the 
     children to paint a Swiss landscape on the infirmary wall. 
     The painting was discovered in 1999 and was to become the 
     central exhibition of a Holocaust museum at the Rivesaltes 
     transit camp. Half of the inmates of the transit camp, 
     including 400 children, were later killed in Auschwitz. 
     French government officials condemned the incident, and the 
     Interior Minister promised that the mural would be restored.
       June 4, 2004.--Epinay-sur-Seine--A 17-year-old Jewish 
     student was stabbed by a man with a knife shouting ``Allahu 
     Aqbar'' (G-d is great in Arabic). The student was leaving a 
     Jewish school in the northern Parisian suburbs. The attacker 
     tried to hurt two other students with a screwdriver. The 
     student was in serious, but not critical condition. President 
     Jacques Chirac condemned the attack and the French Interior 
     Minister, Dominque de Villepin, visited the scene.
       May 30, 2004.--Boulogne-Billancourt--A 17-year-old Jewish 
     youth was attacked outside his home in a Paris suburb by a 
     group of young men yelling anti-Semitic slogans. The youth is 
     the son of a local rabbi. President Jacques Chirac condemned 
     the attack.
       May 7, 2004.--Villier-le-Bel--A small explosive device was 
     discovered outside a synagogue north of Paris. According to 
     media reports, the bomb was in a bag with the writing ``Boom 
     anti-Jews'' and a swastika. On May 14, an 18-year-old man was 
     found guilty of putting the fake bombs on the grounds of the 
     synagogue and was sentenced to two months in prison.
       May 6/7, 2004.--Verdun--A memorial to Jewish soldiers who 
     died in the Battle of Verdun was vandalized. Nazi slogans and 
     symbols were scrawled on the memorial. The Battle of Verdun 
     was fought between French and German armies near the northern 
     French city in 1916.
       May 4, 2004.--Paris--In the suburb of Cretiel, a rabbi and 
     his young son were attacked on their way home from Friday 
     night services.
       April 29/30, 2004.--Colmar--A Jewish cemetery in the Alsace 
     region in eastern France was vandalized. At least 127 
     headstones were spray painted with swastikas and anti-Semitic 
     statements. The cemetery dates back to the 18th century. The 
     attack was condemned by numerous French officials, including 
     President Jacques Chirac.
       April 4, 2004.--Valenciennes--A synagogue in northern 
     France was defaced with neo-Nazi slogans, including 
     swastikas, and ``One people, one empire, one leader, 59 
     years, sieg heil.'' The 59 is believed to be a reference to 
     the 59 years since the death of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.
       March 23, 2004.--Toulon--A Jewish synagogue and community 
     center was set on fire. According to media reports, the 
     arsonist broke a window and threw a Molotov cocktail into the 
     building. There was minor damage and no injuries.
       January 23, 2004.--Villiers-au-Bois--Two gravestones marked 
     with Stars of David were damaged in the World War I cemetery 
     of Villiers-au-Bois near the English Channel coast.
       January 20, 2004.--Strasbourg--A parked minibus used to 
     transport children to a Jewish school in the eastern French 
     city of Strasbourg was burned. Police are investigating the 
     attack as an arson.
       January 20, 2004.--Strasbourg--Police reported that a group 
     of assailants hurled stones at the door of a Strasbourg 
     synagogue.
       January 20, 2004.--Paris--A Jewish teenager was injured in 
     an attack by Muslim youths at an ice-skating rink. The youths 
     shouted anti-Semitic insults at the 15-year old boy before 
     kicking him in the head and jaw with ice skates.


                                germany

       August 15, 2004.--Berlin--A Jewish monument was smeared 
     with a swastika. Police are investigating.
       July 22, 2004.--Hagen--A fifteen-year old boy, along with 
     two others, threatened visitors to a synagogue with a knife, 
     and made anti-Semitic remarks. The visitors were leaving the 
     synagogue at around 7 p.m. when they were confronted by the 
     boys.
       June 25, 2004.--Dusseldorf--Vandals sprayed swastikas and 
     SS symbols on at least 40 gravestones at a Jewish cemerty.


                                hungary

       July 21, 2004.--Debrecen--Vandals defaced a Holocaust 
     memorial with swastikas in the eastern Hungarian city of 
     Debrecen. Police are investigating.
       July 1, 2004.--Gyongyos--A Jewish cemetery in northern 
     Hungary was vandalized. More than 90 gravestones were smashed 
     just weeks after the cemetery had been renovated by the local 
     town council to mark the 60th anniversary of the Holocaust.


                    moldova/transdniestrian republic

       May 5, 2004.--Tiraspol--Vandals threw Molotov cocktails at 
     the synagogue in Tiraspol.


                                 poland

       June 13, 2004.--Krakow--Police discovered the desecration 
     of a 19th century synagogue. Vandals had painted swastikas 
     and a Star of David hanging from gallows on the Tempel 
     Synagogue.

[[Page S9166]]

                                Romania

       August 20, 2004.--Cluj--The wall of a Jewish cemetery in 
     northwestern Romania was smeared with swastikas as well as 
     anti-Semitic and fascist slogans.


                                 Russia

       April 15/16, 2004.--Pyatigorsk--Fourteen tombstones were 
     vandalized in a Jewish cemetery. The cemetery had been 
     previously attacked in June 2003.
       March 29, 2004.--St. Petersburg--The city's only kosher 
     restaurant had its windows broken by vandals.
       February 15, 2004.--St. Petersburg--Vandals desecrated 
     about 50 graves in a Jewish cemetery, painting swastikas and 
     anti-Semitic graffiti on headstones. Police are 
     investigating.
       January 27, 2004.--Derbent--An explosion shattered several 
     windows in a synagogue in Derbent in the the southern region 
     of Dagestan.


                                Ukraine

       May 23, 2004.--Kiev--More than 50 gravestones were 
     vandalized in a Jewish cemetery. According to the chief rabbi 
     of Kiev, headstones were broken and heavy old stones were 
     thrown about. Ukrainian Interior Ministry spokesman Viktor 
     Korchinsky denied any acts of vandalism, saying the graves 
     were destroyed ``all by themselves, because they were too 
     old.''
       March 23/24, 2004.--Odessa--Vandals broke several windows 
     of the Osipova Street Synagogue. No one was injured.


                             United Kingdom

       August 21/22, 2004.--Birmingham--Sixty Jewish gravestones 
     were destroyed in the Witton cemetery. Community officials 
     reported that stickers with the logo of the neo-Nazi National 
     Front were found on some of the stones.
       June 18, 2004.--London--A ``suspicious fire'' damaged the 
     synagogue and headquarters of Aish Ha Torah, a Jewish 
     educational group, in Hendon. Two Torah scrolls were torn and 
     desecrated in the attack and the synagogue and offices 
     suffered serious smoke damage.
       June 17, 2004.--London--An arson attack on a London area 
     synagogue destroyed religious books, including some that had 
     been smuggled out by Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis. A 
     burning rag was thrown into the south Tottenham United 
     Synagogue.

  Mr. SANTORUM. But what we see here is a very troubling trend in an 
area of the world which has been, unfortunately, a hotbed for this kind 
of behavior which has led to horrific consequences. We have an 
obligation, particularly in this region of the world, to point out to 
the governments of those countries the importance of making sure that 
religious liberty is respected, and religious liberty of all faiths, 
but in particular any kind of rise or any kind of motion toward a 
return to a horrific time in the world's history.
  This is one of the reasons I wanted to get up and talk today. I think 
it is important that we bring attention to this issue, as well as the 
broader issue of anti-Semitism.
  Later, we will hear people talk about the acceptance--it is almost 
incredible to believe--the acceptance of anti-Semitic behavior at our 
colleges and universities here in the United States of America, as well 
as a whole host of problems.
  Mr. President, I see my time is up. I know the Senator from Kansas is 
here. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Pennsylvania 
for addressing the topic of anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism expanding 
in the world. I have comments to add to this issue as well.
  This is a disheartening development that is taking place. We are 
seeing it. It is being documented. I say to my colleagues, if they are 
interested, I have ``The Rise of Anti-Israelism & Anti-Semitism,'' by 
Dr. Gary Tobin, Dr. Alexander Karp, and others. It is a good 2, 2\1/2\ 
inches thick, documenting what is taking place in the world today. It 
is full of pictures and leaflets that are being distributed. Some of 
them are ghastly to look at. I do not want to show them on the Senate 
floor because they are so dark and evil and diabolical. But I think it 
is something for people to be able to see the documentation.
  When I first heard about this developing, I said this can't really 
take place now. We are 60 years out from Auschwitz. That is close 
enough. People are still alive who experienced this. Surely this does 
not happen in the world today. Yet it does. We need to identify it as 
evil and dark and wrong and castigate it and tell people this is wrong 
and stand up against it. And it is, unfortunately, well documented 
about what is taking place.
  I particularly thank my colleague Senator Voinovich for his tireless 
work in promoting the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004 and 
pushing to identify and get at the roots of the issue.
  In his book titled ``Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-
Semitism,'' National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham 
Foxman, likens anti-Semitism to a disease. He says:

       Like many diseases, it spreads from person to person. It 
     can be inherited--not genetically, of course, but through the 
     malign impact of a bigoted adult on his or her children and 
     grandchildren. It can lie dormant within an individual, 
     sowing symptoms only in times of stress. And at times when a 
     community is vulnerable, it can spread rapidly, causing an 
     outbreak that is equivalent to an epidemic.

  We cannot tolerate further spread of this epidemic. Many of us here 
associate anti-Semitism with the hatred of Jews that hit Europe in the 
1930s and escalated to the genocidal measures of Adolph Hitler and the 
Nazis. However, as President Bush stated in a recent speech:

     . . . Anti-Semitism is not a problem of the past; the hatred 
     of Jews did not die in a Berlin bunker. . . . The 
     demonization of Israel, the most extreme anti-Zionist 
     rhetoric can be a flimsy cover for anti-Semitism, and 
     contribute to an atmosphere of fear in which synagogues are 
     desecrated, people are slandered, [and] folks are threatened. 
     . . .

  This hatred of Israel and her people continues, endorsed and 
propagated by many states and their leaders.
  In a time when we are concerned about terrorism and security, some 
might question the need to focus on a problem like anti-Semitism. The 
issues of terrorism and anti-Semitism are inseparably married, wedded 
by their intolerable hatred of Israel and Jews. They are joined 
together by their disgust for defenders of peace and democracy. The 
eerie and lasting relationship of state-sponsored terrorism and state-
sponsored anti-Semitism is destroying hope of peace for future 
generations.
  In the book I just referenced, the authors state:

       Terrorism has clearly been chosen and relied upon as a 
     primary tactic by the world's most vehement anti-Israelists 
     and anti-Semites: despotic Arab dictatorships. Syria, Iran, 
     Saudi Arabia, and Palestine are all led by those who have 
     chosen to use fear and terror to weaken Israeli resolve.

  In the State Department's Pattern of Global Terrorism report released 
in 2001, it certifies that:

       Iran's involvement in terrorist-related activities remained 
     focused on support
     for groups opposed to Israel and peace between Israel and its 
     neighbors. . . . Supreme Leader Khamenei continued to refer 
     to Israel as a `cancerous tumor' that must be removed. . . .

  The most recent report states that:

       During 2003, Iran maintained a high-profile role in 
     encouraging anti-Israeli activity, both rhetorically and 
     operationally. . . . Iran provided Lebanese Hizballah and 
     Palestinian rejectionist groups--notably Hamas, the Palestine 
     Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of 
     Palestine-General Command--with funding, safe-haven, 
     training, and weapons.

  That is from our own State Department.
  In Foxman's book, he reiterates the trend of state-sponsored 
terrorism taking a more religious approach:

       So today, thanks to the propaganda of a number of 
     fundamentalist Islamic clerics, supported by Arab leaders in 
     many countries, the Arab-Israeli conflict has been 
     transformed from a nationalist struggle into a religious 
     one. When Palestinian suicide bombers go out on their 
     deadly missions, they wrap themselves not in the banner of 
     the Palestinian Authority but in the green and white flag 
     of Islam. When terrorists record videotapes to inspire 
     their followers and frighten their opponents, they don't 
     talk about demands for land or autonomy, they talk about 
     religious martyrdom and about their wish to kill Jews.

  We are living in a critical period of history. The war for 
civilization--and our very way of life--is being fought not only in 
Baghdad and Kabul, but it is being fought in Jerusalem a well, and has 
been for a long time. This battle pits democracy against 
totalitarianism. It pits freedom against subjugation. It pits a culture 
that values life against a culture willing to throw it away with 
neither remorse nor regret.
  While the global war on terror is our common cause now, peace and 
reconciliation are our actual objectives. Through time immemorial, the 
people of Israel have simply sought and taught of peace; of a time when 
swords would be beaten into plowshares; and children would be taught of 
war no

[[Page S9167]]

more. When the lion would lay down with the lamb and there would be no 
more tears. Yet today we are beset with hostilities. Nations are 
embracing terrorism. Hatreds exist without reason.
  Peace and truth go together. We must speak of peace with all who 
embrace peace and speak the truth about those who do not. Evil must be 
identified for what it is and once exposed to the sunlight of the 
truth, will waken, whither and fall. Terrorism and anti-Semitism are 
evil and must be rejected by all civilized people and every nation. 
Terrorism is practiced on the innocent and anti-Semitism on the 
vulnerable, and they are tools of dark souls. Those that employ these 
means must be confronted and renounced by all humanity.
  Let us call on Syria and Iran, Sudan and North Korea to embrace the 
nobility of their heritage and renounce terrorism and anti-Semitism. 
Immunity from the wrath of hatred is impossible, but inoculation from 
the spread of this disease to future generations is both possible and 
necessary.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________